Legal Outsourcing Chapter Webinar Reminder

IAOP Legal Outsourcing Chapter Webinar, Dec 10th, 11am EST

The third meeting of the IAOP Legal Outsourcing Chapter is taking place on December 10th at 11am Eastern. Once again, due to the diverse geographical dispersion of the Chapter’s stakeholders the meeting will be conducted via webinar. For those interested in attending the webinar feel free to either contact me directly or alternatively click here to register.

I’m delighted to welcome to the speakers’ faculty, Patrick J. Hatfield, a partner at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP and recognized authority on drafting and negotiating BPO and LPO agreements, and Tariq Hafeez, President of LegalEase Solutions LLC, a long established LPO provider.


Webinar Agenda

1. Welcome, Introduction and Brief Industry Update – Mark Ross, VP Global Sales and Marketing, LawScribe.

2. The Legal Outsourcing Agreement and Key Terms to Include – Patrick J. Hatfield, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP.

Whether it is your law firm or your law department engaging LPO resources, this session will identify some key terms to include in the agreement.

- For the law firm- why the typical engagement letter may not be enough
- For the law department - why the engagement letter with the LPO firm or the law firm using LPO resources should include more than the usual terms
- Additional terms for the LPO agreement - assurances about payment, privacy, security, quality review, background checks and ownership of information and audit rights

3. What Not to Outsource - Tariq Hafeez, Esq. President. LegalEase Solutions LLC

- Overview of types of legal functions that are currently being outsourced
- What not to outsource from a client's perspective
- What not to outsource from the LPO Provider’s perspective

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Financial Crisis and Outsourcing

While I fully appreciate that the flavor of the month is to hail the financial crisis as catalytical to the growth of LPO, I read an extremely interesting interview on the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network’s site, discussing the impact the crisis will have on the entire outsourcing sector. Although the interview is probably a few weeks old now, it still makes for an interesting discussion.

The experts on the panel interview, conducted by Jamie Liddell, online editor of SSON, included, among others, Charles Aird, Senior Managing Director of Outsourcing/Shared Services & Offshoring at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Brian D. Smith, Partner & Managing Director, Financial Services at TPI; and Dr. Thomas Tunstall, Advisory Liaison at ACS.

Click here to read the full interview. I have paraphrased below some of the major points to emerge from the discussions:

• There may be an initial downturn or at least a slowdown in discretionary activity in the short term.

• This lull will be followed by a large amount of activity in the coming years.

• There may be a trend to move away from India.

• There will be a slowdown in the trend to captives.

• Both the weakness in the global economy, and the possible movement away, could have a positive impact and feed through to lower wage inflation in India.

• On the ITO side, India will remain the clear market leader. In the BPO arena, we will see more variety, and different countries emerging.

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Will the Law Society Regulatory Review Cover LPO?

I wrote 18 months ago about the necessity for some form of independent regulation of the legal outsourcing industry. See my article, Its Time for Regulation and Accreditation of Legal Process Outsourcing Companies. Readers may recall that I proposed a set of minimum standards, including among others, independent verification of LPO companies’ offshore facilities. My quest for regulation doesn’t spring from any deep rooted desire for outside involvement within the industry. However, the excitement I and my peers, within leading LPOs, have for the industry, is certainly for me tempered at times by the concern I have that a couple of bad apples could one day spoil the entire barrel. Quite rightly, the security of client confidential information continues to be the number one concern of most potential LPO clients. It is also the cause célèbre of those within the legal profession’s anti-outsourcing lobby, who are hungrily waiting to pounce on any slip ups. How many times have you read on message boards from Joe the Attorney, “Just you wait until one of those disgruntled Indian LPO employees…..”, well you know the rest.

Perhaps the first rung on the accreditation ladder might actually be some guidance and external regulation from the U.K. Law Society itself, directed towards those that procure legal outsourcing services. Let me explain. I read with interest today that Lord Hunt of Wirral, MBE, has been charged with the task of conducting an independent review of the future regulation of law firms. Lord Hunt states his task is to,

“Provide comprehensive advice on what is needed to achieve effective, proportionate and modern regulation for all parts of the increasingly diverse legal services market.”

The Review website goes on to say that everyone involved with the provision, procurement or purchasing of legal services will be encouraged to make a formal submission to the Review. Interested stakeholders forming the Corporate Liaison group, for example, and contributing to the review, include magic circle firms Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Freshfields. As we are well aware, all three of the aforementioned legal giants have either already dipped their toes into the LPO waters or have signaled their intent to do so.

If Lord Hunt truly intends to provide an all-encompassing, comprehensive advice, that genuinely incorporates everyone involved with the provision, procurement or purchasing of legal services, then the LPO model must be examined. I have emailed Lord Hunt today, with a link to this post, and I eagerly await further updates on the Review website.

The Hunt review will begin taking evidence in December and its website can be found at http://www.legalregulationreview.com/home.html

I’ll keep my readers posted on developments.

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India’s Major Law Firms Hiring not Firing

According to TheLawyer.com, India’s leading firms have been embarking on something of a hiring spree. FoxMandal Little has apparently boosted its headcount by 63 lawyers over the last year. The article doesn’t specify whether these lawyers have been recruited to work on domestic clients, or for the firm’s second foray into the LPO world.

If any of my readers have some insight I’d be interested to know more.

Click here for the full article.

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Low-Cost, No-Frills, Legal Support

If we needed any further evidence of the growing clamor for lower legal fees then check out the piece covering The Lawyer's in-house summit, recently held in Berlin. For my U.S. readership, substitute South West, for Easy Jet.

Discussing the inflated fees charged by law firms, often reflective of a number of "add-ons", including, 24-7 access, meeting ­facilities, having trainees in the business, and knowledge-sharing, Søren Lundsberg-Nielsen, group ­general counsel for Group 4 Securicor was unapologetic in advocating a no-frills approach, akin to the low-cost airline industry.

“I raised the question of whether in the current circumstances and economic situation there’s now a space for selling high-quality legal services without the additional add-ons.....It means paying only for the services you want, instead of having to get into a debate about rebates and reductions." Søren Lundsberg-Nielsen.

Click here for the full article.

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Legal Outsourcing Events on Two Continents

Back in June, Legalweek.com reported on Eversheds' alliance with South African law firm Routledge Modise.

According to the article,

"Eversheds has pinpointed the firm as an especially lucrative partner because, in addition to the low cost-base, the country has a similar legal system and native English-speaking lawyers."

Click here for the full article.

I raised the question in my blog (click here for the original piece) as to whether South Africa could ever emerge from India’s shadow and launch a challenge as the LPO destination of choice.

Well, while I was flying cross country to Orlando, for the Florida Bar, Legal Outsourcing in India conference, 8000 miles away my former senior partner, Kerry Underwood, of Underwoods Solicitors, was hosting the South African Legal Process Outsourcing Association’s (SALPOA) first meeting.

I have paraphrased below, some of the Association’s key aims and adjectives:

1. Act as a catalyst for the promotion and facilitation of the growth of the LPO industry in South Africa

2. Engage with the various bodies having an interest in the promotion of LPO

3. Conduct and facilitate research on various technology and other issues relevant to LPO in South Africa

4. Understand the needs of potential clients in the corporate and legal sectors of the United States and other potential markets

5. Encourage and support broad participation by players in South Africa and the region by providing education and support

As for the Florida Bar event, despite a less than stellar attendance, delegates were treated to a conversation that has clearly progressed beyond the theoretical, to the practical. Panelists provided real life case studies both in the document review and patent support outsourcing arenas. The event was filmed and the materials are available for purchase through the Florida Bar Association website.

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IAOP Legal Outsourcing Chapter Third Webinar

IAOP Legal Outsourcing Chapter Webinar, Dec 10th, 11am EST

The third meeting of the IAOP Legal Outsourcing Chapter is taking place on December 10th at 11am Eastern. Once again, due to the diverse geographical dispersion of the Chapter’s stakeholders the meeting will be conducted via webinar. For those interested in attending the webinar feel free to either contact me directly or alternatively click here to register.

I’m delighted to welcome to the speakers’ faculty, Patrick J. Hatfield, a partner at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP and recognized authority on drafting and negotiating BPO and LPO agreements, and Tariq Hafeez, President of LegalEase Solutions LLC, a long established LPO provider.


Webinar Agenda

1. Welcome, Introduction and Brief Industry Update – Mark Ross, VP Global Sales and Marketing, LawScribe.

2. The Legal Outsourcing Agreement and Key Terms to Include – Patrick J. Hatfield, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP.

Whether it is your law firm or your law department engaging LPO resources, this session will identify some key terms to include in the agreement.

- For the law firm- why the typical engagement letter may not be enough
- For the law department - why the engagement letter with the LPO firm or the law firm using LPO resources should include more than the usual terms
- Additional terms for the LPO agreement - assurances about payment, privacy, security, quality review, background checks and ownership of information and audit rights

3. What Not to Outsource - Tariq Hafeez, Esq. President. LegalEase Solutions LLC

- Overview of types of legal functions that are currently being outsourced
- What not to outsource from a client's perspective
- What not to outsource from the LPO Provider’s perspective

[read more...]

Florida Bar CLE India Legal Outsourcing Conference

A final reminder to my readers about the upcoming Florida Bar CLE Legal Outsourcing event.

This half-day program will examine the Indian LPO industry and how U.S. corporations and law firms are using LPO services, or why they are choosing not to use such services. The first three hours will focus on how LPO is used in the following areas of law: (1) litigation and document review; (2) corporate transactional; and (3) intellectual property. The fourth hour will focus on ethics, professional responsibility and legal malpractice issues raised by use of LPO services, and a discussion of what impact India’s legal market opening to foreign law firms may have on the Indian LPO industry. Click here for more information on the Florida Bar CLE website.

This seminar will benefit private attorneys, in-house counsel, and corporate executives who are already experienced with using LPO services in India, as well as those seeking to learn about the increasing use of LPO services and how it may affect their practices. Using case studies, panelists will discuss real life examples of the issues and obstacles that providers and consumers of LPO services encounter in putting together an LPO transaction.

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LPO LinkedIn Overkill

Ok, to say I'm flabbergasted would be somewhat of an understatement. I have just signed off from LinkedIn having determined that there are a total of 14, yes FOURTEEN, separate Legal Outsourcing groups.

Two of the groups (with quite delicious irony) profess to be one of a kind. Eleven of the groups have between one and thirty members with several individuals signed up to three or more of the various groups.

I am a major advocate of LinkedIn, and of course the LPO industry, however, I have to ask, what if anything are these groups bringing to the table? Are they truly effective forums for disseminating ideas and concepts relevant to legal outsourcing?

Perhaps I'm being overly harsh, and you never know, from small acorns, fourteen mighty legal outsourcing groups may one day grow.

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